Participant Projects: 2007

36 students from all over New Zealand have been selected to attend Realise the Dream. They were selected from over 80 nominations from programmes such as Science & Technology Fairs; Bright Sparks; CREST; Young Historian Competition; Yr13 Geography Competition and the Young Enterprise Scheme.

During the week the students will select from a wide range of options including visits to NIWA; IRL; GNS Science; Victoria University of Wellington; Te Papa behind the scenes; Field Trips; Computer Design and MAF. They will attend a workshop on sustainable energy facilitated by the principal sponsor Genesis Energy and they will also partake in social activities including the theatre and a fun quiz evening.

The event culminates in a celebratory awards dinner which will take place at Government House.

Students who have been selected from New Zealand are:

Hamish Andrew (15), Onehunga High School

Title: Use Your HeadNominated by: Auckland Science & Technology Fair
Hamish's project is a product designed to allow a user,including the elderly and infirm, to turn the shower water flow on and off without having to let go of the shower head or to use the tap that may be hard to turn or out of reach. He has done this by designing a very simple on-off valve that can be operated by a single push.

The strength of this project lies in Hamish's thorough design process, a process that has explored existing valve types and materials, identified a possible mechanism to fit the brief, developed mockups and models, met design and manufacturing challenges and reached a final functional prototype that is commercially feasible and looks good into the bargain. Hamish has followed the technology process carefully throughout with a clear vision in mind the whole time and consulted with experts along the way at appropriate times. His thinking has reached beyond the endpoint of the technology process to the investigation of the potential commercialisation of his device.

Jessie Bird (17): Tawa College

Title: Mushroom Medicine
Nominated by: Wellington Science & Technology Fair / CREST project
Jessie set out to look for antibacterial properties in New Zealand fungi. Recognizing that bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to the present generation of antibiotics, and knowing that penicillin itself was discovered from a mould growth, Jessie reasoned that NZ's huge range of fungi might be a good place to start in the search for new antibiotic agents.

The strength of Jessie's work lies in her excellent planning, specimen collection and sample preparation, careful experimentation and meticulous note-taking. From the first suite of ten fungi found in the bush close to her home, Jessie discovered two which caused significant inhibition to the growth of S. aureus and E. coli common bacteria with contrasting properties: an exciting start that will certainly be followed up.

Lauren Boesley, 17, KingsWay School, Auckland

Title: The Life of Marianne Williams
Nominated by: Young Historian Competition
This project investigated early contact between Maori and members of the London Missionary Society in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. The research completed enabled the student to write a text-book chapter on the life of missionary, Marianne Williams.
Excellence in this project is demonstrated through the extensive range of both primary and secondary historical sources used in the research, the construction of the historical narrative, and the translation of this narrative into a compelling text-book chapter complete with appropriate illustrations and searching study questions.

Hadley Boks-Wilson (18): Dunstan High School

Title: Night Vision Goggles
Nominated by: Hi-Tech Awards
Hadley has created a system that enables you to see in the dark, night-vision goggles. The military versions usually retail for thousands of dollars, but Hadley's solution costs considerably less. And they really work! He has even attached close-fit rubber swimming fittings to the eyepieces to ensure you can't see a thing without the help of the electronics.

The key feature of this project is the way Hadley has used his imagination to access and modify existing technology and explore ways of 'hacking' these devices to obtain useful component systems that he can integrate to make a fully functioning product. In doing this he has encountered many unsuitable combinations, but has persisted to reach an extraordinarily effective endpoint. The whole process, which has taken over a year from initial idea to result is a demonstration of tenacity and ingenuity.

Daisy Boothman-Burrell (14): Marlborough Girls' High School

Title: Don't squash the kid
Nominated by: Marlborough Science & Technology Fair
Using projected images of cars traveling down roads and recording children's estimate of their distance from the approaching cars, Daisy tested the perceptions of over 70 children between the ages of 6 and 13.
The design of the project made it a safe and effective way of demonstrating that young children are unable to accurately assess their distance from an approaching vehicle. On the basis of her data she suggested pedestrian crossing markings include a 30-metre 'danger zone' at their approach as a cheap and probably effective way of helping younger children to decide when it is safe to cross the road.

Kate Burgess (13): Samuel Marsden College

Title: Investigation of cell phone interference with radio reception
Nominated by: Wellington Science & Technology Fair
Does your radio beep whenever you receive or send a text message on your mobile phone? Kate's does, and she wanted to find out not only why this happens, but also to investigate the factors that affect this annoying interference. With just a microphone and PC with some signal-displaying software, Kate designed and carried out a suite of experiments to investigate the effects of distance; radio volume setting and text message length; whether AM or FM radio reception is affected more; whether sending and receiving messages causes more interference, and finally a comparison of two different phones.
Finding that a friend's Nokia phone caused no interference at all led Kate to seek information from an expert at Telecom. She discovered that the Telecom and Vodafone networks employ different signal processing (chopping or pulsing), and that, in the case of Vodafone, this pulsing is the origin of the interference.

Yuhui Chen (David) (18): Mt Roskill Grammar School

Title: Smart Phone
Nominated by: Hi-Tech Awards
David's Smart Phone allows you to receive and make calls hands-free on an ordinary household telephone. This would be a distinct advantage when you are in a situation where the phone is nearby, but out of reach, such as if you were at the sink or under the car. Voice activation enables you to 'train' the device to respond to your speech via a microphone and to link to the phone so that you can use it remotely.

The excellence in this project is in the very high level of competence David has shown in bringing the whole concept together, with its esoteric and complex electronics, and in the skill with which he has constructed the circuit boards and wiring and assembled it into a very professional and beautifully presented final product.

Louise Davison (17): Morrinsville College / CREST project

Title: Take it to where the cows drink
Nominated by: East Waikato Science & Technology Fair
This project is the continuation of a passion to provide clean water to dairy cows all around the farm. The use of a Trough Top in conjunction with UV LED's powered by a solar panel is an innovative way of purifying the water in the most remote locations.

The project has been approached in a very thorough manner and has been approved through the Gold CREST process. Louise has a range of key consultants for all relevant aspects of the project. She had developed the techniques and skills to enable her to gather the data she needs to make valid judgments. The initial trials have clearly demonstrated that heterotrophic bacteria levels drop significantly over a short period of time. This is an exciting project with significant implications for dairy farmers.

Liam Ellis (16): Hutt Valley High School

Title: Biped
Nominated by: Hi-Tech Awards
The mark of this project is the simplicity that underlies the effectiveness and 'wow factor' of this robot. The biped walks realistically until it encounters an object ahead, then its ultrasonic detector pair alerts the software, which then drives the servo motors controlling the legs in reverse.

The excellence in Liam's project lies in the elegance of his solution and the fact he has created something that very few, if any, students of his age have ever attempted. Simple programming, clever mechanical articulation combined with the necessity to conserve balance in this irregular type of motion and basic electronics has all come together to produce a biped robot that looks alive. Liam's approach typifies the inspiration of a true engineer.

Hadleigh Frost (12): Halswell School, Canterbury

Title: Biorhythms, can they predict how we feel?
Nominated by: Canterbury Science & Technology Fair
The theory of biorhythms has it that our intellectual and energy levels and our moods go through regular cycles calculated from the day we were born. Hard to believe? Hadleigh set out to test the theory. He asked 20 subjects to complete detailed diaries for a month, then went about an exhaustive mathematical comparison of their records with predictions based on biorhythmic cycle algorithms which he downloaded from the internet.
Hadleigh constructed an enormous Excel workbook containing his data, calculations and analyses. After consultation with a university mathematics student, he explored the use of various correlation procedures, including the correlation coefficient, and a comparison of peaks in the frequency spectra of his subjects' records with supposed biorhythmic cycle frequencies. Such mathematical methods are rarely encountered before 2nd or 3rd year at university, and almost never seen applied in school science projects. At the end of it all he has clarified the issue once and for all because he could find absolutely no evidence to suggest that biorhythmic cycles cause the highs and lows of his subjects' lives.

Title: ‘Salivation Satisfaction’
Nominated by: Manawatu Science & Technology Fair
This project investigated whether different brands of teat sold for calf rearing in the dairy industry have inherently different rates of calf live weight gain. One manufacturer claims their teats promote saliva production and hence greater rates of weight gain. 6 brands of teat were tested. 18 calves were randomly allocated to each brand of teat. Over 8 weeks the 18 calves were fed daily from their allocated teat and weighed weekly.
A scoring system was developed to record and quantify salivation rates, and drinking time was also recorded. Points judges liked were: (i) the starting point was a piece of industry information widely accepted in the dairy farming community and promoted in advertising by a commercial company (ii) that Gabrielle devised a valid experiment to test the information in question (iii) the experiment was carried out in two successive years and although the 2007 results were consistent with the teat manufacturers claims, it was correctly noted that the size of any teat effect on weight gain was in fact not greater than the experimental error, and that there were not enough calves for a definitive or statistically significant result.

Adam Goodall (18): Palmerston North Boys' High School

Title: The Flyger's Line Big Box Retail Development
Nominated by: Yr13 Geography Competition
Developers have proposed a large retail development on the fringes of Palmerston North involving many large format stores. This initial proposal failed to obtain support and did not proceed. A new developer noted the issues raised and is in the process of making a new application to develop the site that involves a mix of large format retail, other businesses and provision for some residential. The site is on the flood plain so special measures to accommodate flooding is included.

Adam has thoroughly researched the proposals and come up with a recommendation. His research includes seeking primary source information from relevant parties and evaluating it in the light of the statutory and other processes required to obtain a consent.
The result is a well researched and presented report that shows a mature insight into the issues that affect large-scale community development proposals. The report could itself be used in the consent process.

Pippa Grierson (15): Katikati College

Title: Fighting facial eczema
Nominated by: Bay of Plenty Science & Technology Fair
Pippa has researched whether there is a difference in facial eczema spores by applying various lime products. Facial eczema is caused by animals ingesting toxic spores from the fungus Pithomyces chartarum that grows in the dead litter layer of the pasture. When climatic conditions are favourable the fungus produces large numbers of these spores. When climatic conditions are favourable (warm and humid weather) the fungus produces large numbers of spores which are toxic and when ingested by the animal these toxic spores cause severe liver damage resulting in facial eczema, a very painful condition.
Pippa's Dad had noticed that facial eczema spores were not as high on paddocks where lime had been spread. Pippa began her research when she treated a small area of pasture with super-phosphate and another with lime to see if they had an effect on fungi. Lime seemed to work best so she set out to discover the optimum application rate to kill spores. She tested two products Ag lime and lime prills. The Ag Lime worked the best. Her well conducted trials show that lime appears effective at controlling facial eczema spores and that the residual effect lasted up to two years.

Samantha Haultain (17): Edgecumbe College

Title: Reptile & Invertebrate monitoring in the Manawahe ecological corridor
Nominated by: BAYERBoost Scholarship
We know very little about the real populations and distributions of most of our native animals. DOC and others preserve land in the expectation that the animals will be able to utilize it effectively. This research used a range of ecological techniques to identify the invertebrates and reptiles in the ecological corridor. Samantha showed dedication to the task and rigour in her survey techniques. This type of baseline survey is important so that in the future, changes in wildlife a consequence of pest control measures can be accurately assessed.

Nicholas Harker (14): Onehunga High School

Title: Salt tolerance in plants
Nominated by: Liggins Institute - CREST Project
Increasing salt levels in agricultural land are a problem in many parts of the world. Nicholas has examined the sensitivity and tolerance of a range of plants, including alfafa, broccoli and clover, to different concentrations of salt by measuring seed germination rates and plant growth. His research design is thorough, ensuring the validity and reliability of his results, and also allowing the results of each set of experiments to inform the design of the next set.
Not surprisingly, Nicholas' experiments showed that relatively high concentrations of salt significantly retard and ultimately prevent, the growth of most of his plants. However, the addition of nutrients, does to some extent offset the effects of salinity.

Selvi Jegatheeson (18): Diocesan School for Girls

Title: Duckweed as Bio-filters: Nature's clean-up crew
Nominated by: Auckland Science & Technology Fair
This experiment investigated the ability of common duckweed to remove nitrate from water, by measuring with a Vernier nitrate probe the amount of nitrate removed over a 24-hour period for selected weights of duckweed in waters with known concentrations of nitrate.
Selvi's experiments demonstrated an efficiency of nitrogen removal of 94-98% in 24 hours if 10-20g of duckweed was immersed in solutions with about 10 mg/litre of nitrate. She then considered her results in the context of the duckweed's potential use in de-nitrification of Lake Rotorua, noting that the large amounts required would be likely to lead to other undesirable environmental consequences for the lake.

Marina Kamel (17): Otago Girls' High School

Title: The Beam of Hope
Nominated by:
Concerned about the environment, Marina set out to prove that solar energy should be the alternative power source to fossil fuels in the future. Her project improved the functioning of the solar cells by making changes to their structure thus proving that they hold the potential to be researched and bettered. Marina extracted dyes and used these to determine their effectiveness in solar cells, testing their likely effectiveness by determining the dyes' adsorption spectra.
Other areas of her research involved looking at the effects of combining dyes, the concentration of the dyes, the freshness of the dyes, the type of semi-conductor material used and its relative sizes on the electrical potential of the solar cells. The strength in her work is in her efforts and success in linking quite disparate areas of knowledge. Her project shows abundant passion and demonstrates her strong commitment to addressing environmental issues in innovative ways.

Ray Kim (18): Palmerston North Boys' High School

Title: Outstinking Tomatoes!
Nominated by: Manawatu Science & Technology Fair
This project comprises a series of curiosity-driven experiments exploring the implications of the smell exuded by tomato plants. Ray hypothesised that insect predators might use this smell to locate tomato plants. He chose to use house flies to test his hypothesis. He assessed the activity of flies at a range of temperatures in order to ascertain the ideal temperature for an experiment (20oC). He then introduced tomato plants to a chamber containing flies.
In five repeats of the experiment, flies always dispersed away from the tomato plants over time. He found the repellent properties were most strongly associated with plant stem, less strongly linked with leaves and not associated with flowers or fruit-flesh. The initial hypothesis was wrong and house flies are not a natural tomato predator, but what the judges liked about this project was the way a series of experiments linked together to provide a convincing conclusion, and some interesting information that is not widely known, even among horticulturalists and tomato growers.

Mark Kooter (14): Te Aroha College

Title: Thyndicator
Nominated by: East Waikato Science & Technology Fair
This technology project has involved making a sign saying 'thank you' that comes on in the rear window of a car after a passing maneuver. Apart from Mark having a strong grasp of the technology process in developing the device, the strength of the project is its recognition of the advantage of a time delay which enables the sign to be driver-activated before the passing maneuver.
This was established to be 8 seconds on average and then illuminated for 4 seconds, which is the average time for a person to recognize an unfamiliar sign. The use of a timer from glow plug timers, provided an effective way for the sign to be adapted to all cars. The device received favourable opinion from the police.

Chuan-Zheng Lee (17): Mt Roskill Grammar School

Title: Internet Gateway Information Display
Nominated by: Hi-Tech Awards
This handy device allows anyone using a computer or laptop wirelessly linked to a main server in the building to immediately tell if the connection to the server and to the internet is active. The transmitter is very handy in a house where a number of computer work-stations are dispersed throughout the building.

The strengths in this project are many: the applicability and usefulness of a device designed as a solution to a real need, the clarity of the brief, the effectiveness of the Visual Basic interface and the commercial potential of the final product. Chuan-Zheng showed determination and vision in overcoming obstacles encountered along the way, including an assertion 'that it couldn't be done'. The software programming and the electronics are at a high level for a school student.

Amy McDonald (14): Elim Christian College

Title: Life Savers
Nominated by: Manukau Science & Technology Fair / CREST project
Amy developed a battery based on a 'Rough Science' prototype that used seawater as an electrolyte. She developed the battery for use in a life-jacket so that as soon as the wearer entered the water, seawater entered the battery and it operated an alarm.
She conducted experiments on the effectiveness and longevity of her multi-celled seawater battery once activated. The device has potential in the design of life jackets and removes the need to continually check the 'freshness' of batteries in them.

Hamish McMillan (13): John McGlashan College

Title: Which bee is it?
Nominated by: Otago Science & Technology Fair
We all know that there are bees and there are bumble bees but did you know that there are 3 main strains of honey bees in the South Island? Hamish McMillan did but he found that beekeepers did not really know what strains they had in their hives as it is not easy to tell one strain from another especially when many are hybrids. This is important as the different strains have different characteristics.
He contacted many beekeepers and requested samples of the bees from their hives. He then took wings from the bees and from measurements of the wings he was able to determine the predominance of the three strains. It was a big surprise to discover that a single shipment of Carnolian bees imported from Italy over 50 years ago are still discernible in the bee population. This was a surprise as it was believed that the Carniolan Bee strain had disappeared.

Josephine Mak (17): King's College

Title: Mimosa Movements 11
Nominated by: Liggins Institute - CREST Project
Josephine set out to identify why Mimosa does not respond to touch below 16°C. She suspected that cold caused the plant to express different proteins that inhibited the response.

Josephine used excellent experimental processes and the use of complex protein identification technology (protein gels) enabled her to show that cold shock did change protein expression and so accounted for the change in physical reaction. This is a very challenging project for a school student requiring a lot of new knowledge and new experimental skills.

Ben Mulholland (15): Taieri College

Title: StoreIT
Nominated by: Hi-Tech Awards / CREST project
Ben has developed a software solution to a problem we all have: "I put it somewhere, but where the heck is it?"
Ben's StoreIT is a computer programme that enables you to draw up shapes representing cupboards, tables and shelves in a virtual room and then record the location of items as you allocate them to each storage area.

The excellence in this project lies in the effectiveness of the software with its user-friendly interface with its simplicity of storage and retrieval of data. The use of C++ code to develop the programme is a feature that is not usually mastered by school students of this age. Ben faced challenges along the way, yet overcame these to create what is an effective potentially commercial result.

Cody Page (17), & Kiran Prasad (17), Marlborough Boys' High School

Title: Icicool - Refreshing the Nation
Nominated by: Young Enterprise Scheme
Are you sick of your drink bottle warming up too fast? If tepid drinks are not for you then you need ICICOOL! Even though there are ice cubes, chiller pads and insulating covers none of them seemed to work on the typical narrow necked drink bottle. ICICOOL is the business of some boy's at Marlborough Boys' High School. They developed a long, thin, brightly coloured freezer tube that slips right into your drink bottle and sits there cooling your drink to the last sip.

The selection of a suitable container and closure and of a non-toxic yet attractive looking freezer gel enabled the team to make an good looking and practical product that does the job and can even be put in a dish washer. This was complemented by a comprehensive business plan, good team work and resulted the company passing the break-even point before competition as the Annual Report shows.

Kim Schoon (13): Palmerston North Girls' High School

Title: Raining Pumps
Nominated by: Manawatu Science & Technology Fair
The identified need was for a low volume pump to water cacti. The judges felt this need might be met in other ways but for a Year 8 exhibitor they liked the evolution of the concept through a series of prototypes. Concept 1 involved a gravity fed system collecting water from roof spouting, but no configuration that worked well was found. Kim went on to 'invent' a pump driven by pressure changes associated with day/night temperature fluctuation.
Cooling causes an air mass trapped in a pressure tank to suck water in through a one way valve, while warming expands the trapped air and expels the water out through another one way valve. Prototype 1 used a Coca cola bottle as a pressure container but this was not strong enough and crumpled in the suction phase of the cycle. Prototype 2 used a metal container for strength, but there was only limited heating and cooling of the air inside, and this pump did not work well either. Protoype 3, worked well, a stronger transparent plastic container was used, able to hold its shape under suction, but allowing rapid heating and cooling of the air inside by a "glasshouse effect".

Nicola Shaw (18): St Margaret's College, Christchurch

Title: Mice! Say Trees
Nominated by: Canterbury Science & Technology Fair
If you feed mice well you get more mice. When there is plentiful mice you get more stoats and weasels but when the mice numbers drop the stoats and weasels have to eat something and so they attack native Birds. This is what Nicola Shaw discovered when she surveyed mice and other animals in the forests of the Arthur's Pass and Craigieburn Forest Park areas.
This research covered a long period of detailed data collection using tracking tunnels in order to assess the populations in the study area. This is a well executed and argued ecological study that illustrates the complexities of managing pest species in a mix of native and exotic plant environments.

Anton Smith (16): Christ's College

Title: The Assassination of John F Kennedy
Nominated by: Young Historian Competition
This project investigated the assassination of John F Kennedy. In particular, the project evaluated both the Warren Commission's 'Single Assassin Theory' and the 'American Intelligence Plot Theory'. Excellence in this project is demonstrated through the research processes used (as detailed in the student's work book), the construction of the historical narrative on the basis of the research completed, and the evaluation of the contrasting theories to draw conclusions as to their validity on the basis of the researched evidence.

Rudi Smith (17): Palmerston North Boys' High School

Title: Where's there's muck there's brass!
Nominated by: Manawatu Science & Technology Fair
Rudi built an apparatus from equipment available in his school science lab, allowing the gas evolution in fermentation reactions to be accurately monitored over time, through the use of a pressure sensor. He recognised the need for replication and undertook a statistical analysis. His tests showed that galactose is not metabolised by brewer's yeast.

Judges liked (i) the awareness of the growing importance worldwide of biofuels as an energy source, (ii) the design of the measurement apparatus which allowed Rudi to collect effective and precise data on rate of gas evolution, (iii) the ability to distinguish the structural characteristics of the different monosaccharide and disaccharide sugars and the informed use of particular sugars as substrates, and (iv) the finding that the monosaccharide galactose and the disaccharide lactose (containing galactose) are not metabolised by brewer's yeast. This information may be known to specialists in the field, but if so, is not common knowledge.

Charlotte Stephens (16): Diocesan School for Girls', Auckland

Title: Munching Mice
Nominated by: Liggins Institute - CREST Project
What do geeks eat for breakfast? Charlotte studied the learning ability of mice after they had been given six different diets for a week at a time: diets high in fat, sugar (Froot Loops), carbohydrate (rice crackers) and protein, as well as more balanced diets (Chow mouse food, Nutrigrain). Charlotte "borrowed" four mice from a local pet shop, and, mentored by scientists from Auckland University's Liggins Institute, she designed a routine for the mice, in which exercise patterns and weights were monitored continuously.
After a week on each diet their learning abilities were tested in a "water maze"; this is a mouse-sized swimming pool in which each mouse had first to find the one small island refuge, and later, to recall how to reach it. The project called for extensive literature research, care and attention to detail, as well as tending to the needs of her animal subjects. The conclusion? A balanced diet (Nutrigrain or mouse food) encourages the most effective, learning. But listen up athletes, the mice clocked up the most miles on their treadmill while on the high fat diet!

Michael Suisted (15): Te Aroha College

Title: A Stack of an Idea
Nominated by: East Waikato Science & Technology Fair
This technology project looks at the environmentally friendly idea of using a mat with flexible hosing attached which can then be filled with water to keep the polythene held down on silage heaps instead of using tyres.
The development of the silage heap cover is well documented and is certainly a novel way to deal with the environmental and labour issues associated with tyres.
Michael has done the calculations and is onto something that has a good potential market and he is aware of this having done some preliminary market research. This is an innovative idea, which has been well done by someone who shows great enthusiasm.

Rink Tacoma (18): Lincoln High School

Title: Effluent: Problem or bonus?
Nominated by: Canterbury Science & Technology Fair
Farmers commonly spray dairy shed effluent onto the farm using large sprinklers but in many cases large pools remain of the surface. Rink was concerned that this might result in nitrates being able to infiltrate the soil deeply thus not being used for production and possibly contaminate the groundwater.
Using appropriate testing techniques to address a real farming problem, Rink conducted two experiments about the distribution of cowshed effluent. The first experiment measured the distribution of effluent and the second one measured the infiltration of effluent into the soil. These experiments generated meaningful data and analysis, particularly the infiltration studies. Rink has an obviously strong commitment to the industry.

Yifei Tang (15): Bayfield High School

Title: Time Magazine Feature Article – The Sputnik
Nominated by: Young Historian Competition
This project investigated the launch of the Russian Sputnik satellite in 1957. The research completed enabled Yifei to produce a mock-up of a 1957 'Time' magazine cover page celebrating the launch, and a mock-up of a feature article to appear in the same magazine.
Excellence in this project is demonstrated through the research processes followed (as documented in Yifei's work book), the range of relevant materials drawn upon through the research process, the construction of the historical narrative, and the visual and textual quality of the convincing 'Time' article completed by the student.

Allan Veale (14): KingsWay School

Title: Pulse Jet Efficiency
Nominated by: North Harbour Science & Technology Fair
Allan's pulsejet monitoring system is a detailed investigation of the optimum fuel mix for this engine, a shared interest of Allan and his Dad. The excellence of this project lies in the methodical development that Allan has used to achieve the final set of graphs, results that reveal impressive detail of the internal operation of the engine.

Along the way, Allan has made a series of careful design decisions. He developed the spring connection to link the sensitive strain gauge device to the (very powerfully thrusting and hot pulsejet); the mount for the delicate strain gauge; the design of the mount to respond to the jet thrust within a readable range of values; the electronics to convert the output from the gauge and the interface that transfers the output voltage to the datalogger. The exporting on the data into an Excel graph format is the final touch. An excellent overall engineering process indeed demonstrated by a student of young age.

Leilani Walker (17): Diocesan School for Girls

Title: Chemical Warfare
Nominated by: Auckland Science & Technology Fair
From Leilani's observation that grass did not grow under rhododendron bushes, Leilani wondered whether compounds released from the plant suppressed germination of seeds. From crushed rhododendron leaves, she extracted a solution, which she used to find a relationship between the rate of germination of clover seeds (as a proxy for grass) and the concentration of allelopathic chemicals grayanotoxins in the extract.
She found that higher concentrations of the grayanotoxin reduced germination of seeds, the full strength solution reducing germination rates by 10% over a 7-day period. The experiment was well conducted and was supported by statistical treatment of data appropriate for a biological investigation.
Realise the Dream is delighted to host the following international guest participants.

Students who have been selected from Beijing are:

Duo An, 16, Beijing No. 5 School

Project Title: Study on separation of living and dead micro-organisms in active sludge